PROCESS FOR EXTRACTING ESSENTIAL OILS FROM AROMATIC PLANTS AND PRODUCTS OBTAINED

摘要

The invention concerns a process for extracting essential oils from aromatic plants and/or organs of these plants. The process consists in (a) percolating through the plants a condensate of trichloro-1,1,2 trifluoro-1,2,2 ethane in such a manner as to separate from the solid fibrous matter an aqueous phase and an organic phase, the phases being mixed with trichloro-1,1,2 trifluoro-1,2,2 ethane and gradually separated from the solid matter, (b) then distilling the liquid mixture in order to separate the trichloro-1,1,2 trifluoro-1,2,2 ethane, (c) fractionating the residual liquid by means of an essential oil extractant, in particular by steam distillation, and (d) performing a physical separation on the corresponding fraction in order to separate the essential oils from the extractant. The process makes it possible to extract the essential oils without damaging the other potentially useful contituents of the plant, i.e., solid fibrous matter recovered after operation (a) and lipids recovered at the end of operation (c).